05 June 2009 (Movie Interview)

Words: Sheena McGinley

Bryce Dallas Howard's presence is soon replaced with that of a leggy Moon Bloodgood. As previously stated (in One Night in Paris - Terminator Salvation Special), she's sporting jeans, a stirring sheer black shirt/black bra combo, and is a heady cross between Angelina Jolie and Tia Carrere. She talks about the racisim in Hollywood, how she really wanted to be a singer, and how blockbusters don't need backstories... By the by, in case you haven't been following these Termination Salvation interviews, this is the fourth in a series of five *mops brow*. Best start with McG and work your way towards this one. Otherwise, just enjoy the pictures of the hot chick brandishing a large weapon.

Moon thanks the six of us for our (now tired) introductions, and calls us a "nice spirited group" (she has yet to see Maria throw her eyes skyward whenever the Dutch Dude opens his yap). She then gives some background patter of her character - Blair - as if we have yet to see the film, which ends with "and I help Marcus escape, 'cause they're going to kill him."

Dutch Dude: "It says something about the appeal of Sam Worthington."

Moon: "Onscreen of offscreen?"

Sheena: "ALL the time."

Moon: "Heh. Well I think they really wanted to make sure that I wasn't doing it because I cared about it; I was doing it more out of principle."

Collective: "HAH!"

Moon: "Is that so funny?! I mean is that SO hard to believe? You *points at Dutch Dude*, that was such a 'WAAHAA yes, whatever!'"

DD: "Well, I was just thinking it was more about pure, physical animal attraction."

Moon: "Yeah, but that's not gonna make me risk my LIFE!"

DD: "But love ma-"

Moon: "WHO said anything about love? We can separate animal attraction from love."

S: "Were you hoping for hydrolics in certain special places?"

Moon: "Yeah! Well, we never did figure that one out..."

S: "Seriously though, your character had the widest arc, the quickest turnaround to complete in very few scenes. When you were reading the script, were you thinking - 'Oh lord, I'm going to have to bring so much to this'."

Moon: "That's a very good point. The script changed a lot."

S: "There were six writers in all, I think."

Moon: "Yeah, there were a lot of writers, there were a lot of changes - but that happens a lot. You've got Christian's point of you, you've got Sam's. A lot of movies that I've been on; you start with one piece of page, and then that change effects the next page. So, what I read about Blair changed a lot - and got shortened even a little more."

S: "Did that make it better?"

Moon: "I think it was better, because with movies like this you can't have too many back stories, or you'll start to nod your head off. That's not the kind of movie you're going to see (and don't we know it). You're going to this movie because you want the big blockbuster and you want the great story (?!) but you don't want it to be too self-indulgent. It was good, it cut the fat, as we say."

DD: "It's interesting that you say something like that. It shows that you see the bigger picture. I can imagine usually an actor wants to be in as many scenes as possible."

Moon: "Well, everyone has their ego. You want to be in scenes, but if the movie's not good what does it matter whether you're in 20 scenes or 4? I did a movie in which I was in 4 scenes and I got more attention from that, and I went to do that after doing a movie where I was just the lead. So the quality has to be good or it doesn't really matter."

DD: "It's a smart perspective" (he seems surprised)

Moon: "You know, there'll be moments when you think 'Oh, are you cutting that out?' Everybody has that moment. It's a very powerless feeling when you go to a movie and you go, *whispers* 'What happened to that scene?' But I'm not the director. And I'm not the editor. And I'm not the person who put, you know, whatever million dollars into it. I also believe that actors need to know there place is."

Man from Brussels: "Is there anything in the film that's been cut which you would like to still be in there?"

Moon: "There are certain scenes I like that got cut, like a fireside scene, but I trust them to know that it didn't work? You have to trust that the people you're working with have a better view than you do."

MfB: "Well, how much of a back story did you have to invent for your character?"

Moon: "I didn't have a lot of time to prep, only a couple of weeks, I had just read The Road (McG had asked all cast members to read it before filming commenced)... I heard he (Cormac McCarthy) wrote it in two weeks. So I was at my computer and I just started writing - that my dad was a crop duster, my mother passed away, you know, who Blair was. How she felt about men. Blair's one of those girls who's like 'guys kind of fucked me up, but I'm not bitter'. I was not going to be that girl. I don't punch guys because I'm pissed off with them - this is me. I don't even talk about the fact that I'm a woman. Am I the best pilot - yes."

DD: "I can imagine in that kind've world that it'd be important for somebody - not being seen as a girl - but somebody as capable."

Moon: "It's something that's important now, but even more so in that world. When you're in a stressful situation, things like 'I don't like my hair' just aren't important anymore."

S: "Your hair looked stunning by the way. Incredibly shiny for a dust bowl."

Moon: "Lots of work. HOURS."

S: "Tell us how you landed the role."

Moon: "I had a meeting with McG, and I went off to Thailand for a while, like I said (she didn't, but these things happen when you do five interviews in a little under two hours)  and I found out they were still looking for a leading girl. So I sent a tape in.  I thought I didn't a chance, but they were looking all over the world for this part. So why me? I dunno."

S: "It's probably because you have just the right balance between being feminine and believably tough - like Linda Hamilton."

Moon: "Thanks. That's just me. I'm more comfortable in pants, very comfortable with boys making fun of me - comfortable in my masculine energy. Some actors would like to believe they create an entirely new character, but 99 percent of actors are hired because they have a certain energy. And that's my energy."

DD: "But can that not work against you. Like if you wanted to be in a romantic comedy?"

Moon: "Well thank God that's not really the movies I love - but that's not to say I wouldn't want to play those parts. I think I'm a coward and I'm scared to play those parts. I'm like, 'Can I really do it? Can I be good?' I don't have to conqur every role, but I am ambitious. I'm artistic. Right now, I'm in one mood, but sometimes I can be quite girly, goofy, giggly, I love to go to Disneyland, I play with babies... (at this point, on the tape, I can be heard pissing myself laughing) But because I have this look - the hair (long), the voice (deep, yet soft), it would take a lot of effort to make someone believe I could do romantic comedy. Also, I don't read that many. Or the won't even seen me, plus I'm not cockasian... these romantic comedies are written for white women. So if I have to go in and tell a studio that they're bank, which is middle America, on an Asian actress - that takes a lot of convincing."

MfB: "You call yourself an Asian actress?"

Moon: "I call myself an ethnic actress. I'm half Asian, and I'm half white. But I'm not white. Like you look at me and you're like 'That's not Reese Witherspoon'... I'm actually Korean. My mom's from South Korea and my dad's half Irish and half Dutch *points at me and the Dutch Dude* and we look SO alike!"

DD: "Yeah, I thought you was my sister!"

MfB: "Do you think that helped you get a role like Blair? It doesn't matter whether it's black or white, or being ethnic..."

Moon: "And that was definitely McG. It helped me in this situation, but it's also a sign of the times. I think as I get older I'll see more. You see Penelope Cruz getting loads of parts and she has an accent, and Javier Bardem, and it doesn't matter because they're great actor. If you get to a certain level, they don't see you as Spanish or half-Aisian, they see you as 'Oh, that actress'. But it's a pyramid and Hollywood's fuckin' hard. You have to change everyone's perception of you and that's a lot of work. Sometimes I think, well fuck you *laughs* I don't want to have to change your perception, I don't want to have to... ugh, it's a lot of work... I don't even blame them on some level 'cause it's a business. If someone hires me, and I'm supposed to carry a movie and it bombs, they lose their jobs, their kids lose their health insurance. I'm a mature enough person not to blame them, what would I do in their position? ... That's why a lot of actors get into producing and directing to take a chance on themselves... I do blame the people who don't even think 'I want something different', I want the Bardems, that's why I love Woody Allen - he goes 'what's the best character'. Then again, I don't know, did he say 'Scarlett Johansson will get me the money in this movie and then I'll cast the character role?' It's a business. That doesn't mean he's not artistic."

DD: "Was the ethnicity an issue when you wanted to become an actress?"

Moon: "I never wanted to become an actress. I wanted to be a singer - but even that had it's issues, because people want Britney Spears. OK, it's changed a lot, but can you name any Asian singers in the US?"

S: "The lead singer of a band called The Dirty Epics from my neck of the woods is half Asian."

Moon: "There you go. And I read about an female Asian comedian in Ireland as well. That was great to see, her family has a Chinese restaurant - I love that... Yeah, but in America, it's statistically a white country. If that's true, you want as many people to come and buy your album. But you gotta take chances, people just don't have the time to take chances anymore, every thing's sped up... there's just the realities of the world."

DD: "So how did you get to act?"

Moon: "I got thrown into it. I was having a really hard time with my music, I went to this audition I wasn't even going to go to and literally, within 6 months, I started to get jobs. And I thought *whispers* I don't wanna be an actress. But then it's like, I wanna survive and I wanna be an artist... and then the doors opened up for acting. And I deeply enjoy it. And that's my publicist..."

She says this, grinning from ear to ear, probably because said publicist is a VERY attractive man. 

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR McG // READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD //  READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH ANTON YELCHIN // READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTIAN BALE

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